Shadow of Yourself
by MoWa
Summary: Sasuke didn't know who the man was.  He only knew that he didn't want to hear what he had to say. Kiddy Sasuke and Naruto, Fluff. Rating K


_Hi! Here is another Naruto drabbly-fanfic. I hope you'll like it._

_**Title**: Shadow of Yourself_  
_**Author**: Niitza_  
_**Rating**: PG_  
_**Genre**: General (as general as it can be with both boys around), fluff_  
_**Wordcount**: 1 590 words or so (Oneshot)_  
_**Summary**: Sasuke didn't know who the man was. He only knew that he didn't want to hear what he had to say._  
_**Beta-ed by**: doneitall_

_**Warnings**: Hum. Kiddy Sasuke and Naruto. Too much fluff, probably?_

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. At all._

* * *

_Shadow of Yourself_

Sasuke didn't know who the man was.

He didn't even know if he was real or not - with ninjas, it was often so difficult to say. He seemed real enough, but Sasuke had never been able to check if other people saw him - heard him - since he was always alone when it happened.

And he was alone a lot.

It creeped him out, how much the man resembled him. Like an older, sharper, stronger - darker, meaner - version of himself. He didn't want to ever become like _that_.

He'd thought of changing his haircut - even _it_ was the same - but no. No way. It was the man who had to change his, _no way_ he was going to give up the haircut his mom used to give him. He could still see her, holding up scissors and gushing at just how cute it was, the way they stuck up at the back of his head even when they were damp (Sasuke wasn't so sure about it but it had made her _happy_).

The worst thing about it was that it always happened when he least thought of it, and had almost forgotten it.

For instance, this one time. The scene was a common occurrence: Sasuke was sitting on the edge of the small wooden pontoon where his father had taught him how to breathe fire - or at least tried to, before he'd turned away with a disappointed, almost disgusted frown, giving up on his pathetic excuse for a youngest son. Sasuke had never gotten the chance to show him how good he'd become, because the day he'd finally, finally gotten it right had been the exact same day when-

And he couldn't even hate Itachi anymore after what the man that was him but not had said. Now he only had _doubt_, and questions he couldn't answer.

So the prickle at the back of his neck that came while he was sitting and thinking and trying not to think or trying to think without thinking - he didn't know anymore, he just wanted his head to _clear_ itself - was a welcome, familiar distraction. He always felt when Naruto was nearby, everyone always felt it. Other kids stopped playing and perked up, curious; adults stopped smiling and frowned, suspicious; birds stopped singing and cowered, nervous. Sasuke had never known why.

He knew the idiot was looking at him right now, but it wasn't any of his business if Sasuke was sitting here. Hadn't he a home to go back to and other people to annoy? But no, no, he hadn't. And Sasuke would never admit it but it comforted him, somehow, that there was someone else who was alone, like him, who understood him instead of pitying him and _not doing anything_.

He caught Naruto's eyes - _he hadn't meant to!_ The blond boy abruptly turned his head away, nose high, lips pouting, brow furrowed, and Sasuke went back to glaring at the waters - nothing, he'd nothing in common with this imbecile who wasn't able to even throw a kunai right-

Still, a smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth.

_You're going to kill him, you know._

The man's reflection was standing beside him in the water. Sasuke kept his gaze riveted there, didn't turn because he didn't know what would be worse: that the man would be standing there or that he _wouldn't_.

_First you're going to kill him inside by betraying him and then you'll wait years and years to finish off the shell of a body you left behind._

Sasuke froze, images of a too large smile under a mop of blond hair cluttering his mind along with other ones, pictures he _shouldn't know_, of the same face, but older, but sadder, but with those empty blue eyes staring at nothing...

"No," he feebly said. "No, I won't."

He blinked and blinked and blinked but the images were still there - blue eyes with _no fire_ behind them - and he couldn't bear it and he'd never want to do such a thing.

_Yes you will. You'll do anything for power, to clear the obstacles standing between you and your goals. And he'll be an obstacle - calling himself your _friend_._

Sasuke shook his head - the man's reflection remained, smirking, sneering - and countered: "I don't care about power. I... I just want..."

_Yes you do. You want it. You need it. To get to Itachi. To revenge your clan._

"But you said..." No, no, the man hadn't said anything. Sasuke was probably imagining him, slowly going crazy with this huge empty house, with being left alone and with not knowing anything - with all these thoughts racing, tangling in his head and only one thin thread keeping him sane (burning eyes and snarling lips and an attitude that pretended he ignored him but only showed how much he noticed his presence).

_You'll kill him_, the man whispered again.

"No," Sasuke replied, suddenly calmer and standing taller. "I won't."

* * *

Naruto woke up with a start, heart beating, arms flailing, fell from his bed with a thud.

"Owww..." he whined, blinking up at his cracked ceiling and rubbing at his head.

The knocking hadn't stopped. Grumbling, Naruto stood up, tripped on himself and caught a glimpse of his clock - an old one he'd found in a bin and repaired himself.

It was half past five.

The boy growled. He swore, if it was this ANBU-guy once more, the one with the marten mask, waking him up to prod at his belly and sneer at him and insult him in every possible way, he was going to _bite_ him.

It would give him something to report to the old man for once.

So it was only natural for him to be surprised when he swung the door open and saw a far smaller figure standing on his doorstep. Dark hair ridiculously sticking up, frown firmly in place, Sasuke was staring at him with a determined set to his mouth.

"Whadaryadiha?" Naruto mumbled, which was, all things considered, quite a good attempt at "_what are you doing here?_" since it wasn't six yet.

Sasuke crossed his arms and announced: "I, Uchiha Sasuke, have decided that you, Uzumaki Naruto, would be my friend from now on." He ended his little tirade with a short nod, like he was telling someone _So there_.

Naruto blinked. And blinked, leaning heavily on the door-handle and trying not to let his eyelids drop. "Really?" he finally asked.

"Really," Sasuke confirmed with another nod.

He looked expectantly at the blond boy in front of him, trying to catch the moment when what had just been said would click into place and Naruto would _smile_ - sort of like an early sunrise.

He was in for a little surprise.

Naruto frowned: "Then why the _hell_ did you wake me up?" he yelled. "Friends are supposed to be _nice_ to each other, not make the other loose sleep!"

Sasuke huffed. "Because Uchiha Sasuke's friends don't suck at ninja stuff and right now you _do_. Come on," he added, trying to grab the other boy's wrist to drag him after him. "We've got to go to the training ground while there is no one there. I'll show you."

Naruto had smartly dodged his 'friend''s attempt at catching him and retreated into his tiny apartment. "No way! I'm not dressed and I haven't even eaten! You're crazy!"

But for all he was saying, he was already picking up clothes, trying to find something not too dirty - he had forgotten to do the washing-up _again_.

Sasuke didn't seem to notice he was somehow complying and snorted in irritation. "I'll offer you ramen as breakfast afterwards."

He'd decided before coming he would do it _only_ _if it was necessary_ and was now determined to use the clever trick he was so proud to have found, not realising he could have spared his wallet.

Naruto froze, one leg raised before him as he was trying to put on his pants. "Really?" he asked again.

"Really," Sasuke confirmed once more. "But only if you train real good," he added as an afterthought while Naruto became a whirlwind rushing through his things to get ready. "And because we must talk," Sasuke went on in a more thoughtful voice. "We need a plan. There are things we don't know about my clan that I want to know but they are _secret_..."

Naruto popped up right in front of him, hair in a mess and out of breath but ready.

"Like we'll have to _spy_ to get the answers?" he asked. "Wow. Who knew you could be cool?"

He barely dodged the fist Sasuke aimed at his face and disappeared down the stairs, laughing more than sniggering. The black haired boy smirked, stuck his hands in his pockets and followed.

He never saw the man again.

* * *

_(As for Uchiha Itachi, for those who are curious, he was brought back several years later by two shinobis of Konoha, one smirking and the other grinning like a loon. He got patched up by a snapping pink-haired fury then dragged into trial for his acts. Now something funny happened there: the trial began as Uchiha Itachi's and ended as the Konoha elders' - especially a certain Shimura Danzo's._

_As for Uchiha Madara, he's still plotting his petty revenge all alone in an ugly cave since his Akatsuki-plan turned out to be a complete failure. Maybe in two hundred years he'll find something - if his brain isn't entirely rotten by then.)

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_Reviews are loved :)_


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